Protecting the EPA's authority

In August 1991, eight storage tanks containing millions of litres of toxic chemicals erupted on Coode Island. The fire, which sent plumes of black smoke over Melbourne, blazed for two days. The incident
was a frightening reminder of the vulnerability of inner-city residents to the hazards of chemical pollution.

Twelve years on, it is disturbing to learn that the Environment Protection Authority would be ill-prepared to respond to a similar incident if it occurred after working hours.

The warning is contained in an internal EPA report completed in July last year. Since then, an emergency response manager has been appointed to the authority. But is the addition of a single member of staff enough to tackle the scale of the problems the report identifies?

When the report was written, details of which are revealed in The Age today, being a member of the emergency response team was voluntary and involved wearing a pager for a week at a time on weeknights and weekends. Furthermore, the report said the authority
did not keep formal records of the materials to which its staff had been exposed and that no official decontamination procedures were in place.

Morale was low among emergency response employees, it said - "they are called away from their homes after hours, and are placed in potentially hazardous situations, for low pay".
It also warned of the risk of a high attrition rate among them.

The authority's failure to monitor the potential hazards to which its staff are exposed is concerning. But even more concerning is the report's assessment that the EPA may be unable to meet the expectations of the community or of emergency services.

According to the report: "The core activity of the EPA during an incident is to provide 24-hour, statewide, timely, expert advice to the emergency services on the properties, containment and handling of hazardous materials, and on EPA requirements." It said the largest issue with emergency services was the response time of its officers and the fact that they did not attend at all times on request.

It is important that steps be taken to ensure that this gap between expectation and reality is plugged.

This year state Labor announced plans to give the EPA greater powers to oversee water use and recycling in Victoria's rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters. However, the authority received no extra funds, raising
concerns about its ability to meet broader responsibilities.

In July 2001 Victorian independent MP Craig
Ingram called for the rules governing the EPA to be changed so that it reported to Parliament in the style of the Auditor-General's office. "So long as the EPA is a creature of government there are going to be questions of 'who's watching the watchdog'," he said.

It is important not only that the EPA has the resources to carry out its duties, but that the public has faith in the authority's capacity to act independently.